From: "Douglas E. Jorenby"
Subject: Re: Princess Ryan's Star Marines
Robert Leonhard wrote:
> In response to the question about this game: I bought this one, because
> my son and I like to play card-based, fast games. So far, here's my
> assessment:
I got this over the weekend, and our group gave it a play-through
yesterday afternoon. I, too, have come to appreciate games that can
be played to completion in an afternoon. For me, a big draw was the
variable number of players the game supports. We usually have 5, but
that number is subject to change.
> 1. Graphics are superb. A beautiful game just to look at.
Agreed. Also, the cards are of good physical quality, and will
probably stand up to repeated use.
> 2. Rules. Hmmmm. When I was a 12 year old kid struggling with junior
> high school algebra, I had no problem with wargame rules. Now, as a
> middle aged (though strikingly young-looking for my age) guy with two
> masters' degrees, I'll be damned if I can figure out rules anymore. Few
> examples of play. Abstruse wording. Anyway, I emailed AH for
> clarification, and they responded courteously, so I'll try again.
There were some vagueries, but no real show-stoppers that we found.
Usually it was the case that the "missing" rule was actually located
in a different rule section.
> 3. Basically, you start on one end of the board and make your way
> across to where the hostage is held, fighting bad guys at each step.
> You use your cards and skills to overcome various flavors of
> guards--from minefields to strafing spacecraft to mech infantry with
> robots. So far, I've only tried it solitaire, but I infer that the game
> is at its best when many are playing, because you can do nasties to your
> fellow Marines. I have yet to make it even one third of the way across
> the board alive.
We played it with 4 Marine players, and 1 person running the Black
Guard. This seems preferable to running the defenses on autopilot,
because some of the BG cards can be played face down, fostering much
paranoia among the Marine players. In our game, no one tried to frag
the CO (which you can do), but there was much muttering when one of
the players withdrew his Marine from a skirmish with an overwhelming
enemy force.
The game seems fairly well balanced for multi-player play. In our
test, time ran out just as the Marines were storming the Citadel....a
real nail-biter. The group decided it merits repeated play.
Regards,
Doug